Bob Pearson

Bob Pearson, contributor, is Senior Advisor for W2O Group, an independent network of digital communications and marketing companies known for their creation of algorithms and ability to evolve current models and create unique advantages for their clients worldwide.

Bob is an author and frequent speaker on digital marketing, as well as an adjunct professor at Syracuse University, The University of Texas McCombs School and a guest lecturer at the U.S. State Department’s Marketing College. He has written two books (PreCommerce and Storytizing) based on key learning’s from the firm’s work with innovative companies and individuals. Bob’s third book, Countering Hate, co-authored with Haroon K. Ullah, explores how bias, hate and extremism forms, how we can counter it and what we can learn from extremist groups. He is currently working on a fourth book with Haroon (Web War III: The Content Wars) and a fifth with Kip Knight & Ed Tazzia on marketing.

Prior to W2O Group, Bob worked as VP of Communities and Conversations at Dell to develop the Fortune 500’s first global social media function—an industry-leading approach to the use of social media, as highlighted in the best seller, GroundSwell. Before Dell, Bob was Head of Global Corporate Communications and Head of Global Pharma Communications at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in Basel, Switzerland, where he served on the Pharma Executive Committee and he held the role of Vice President of Media and Public Affairs for Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi).

Bob serves as an advisor and investor in many capacities. Highlights include: serving as an original member of the P&G digital advisory board; being appointed by the Governor of Texas to serve as chair and vice chair of the emerging technology fund for the State of Texas (more than $400MM invested); and currently serving on the boards of Vetted.org, The Advertising Research Foundation, Genprex, Inc. and as interim CEO of the MedicAlert Foundation, as well as acting as an advisor for the University of Texas Center for Global Business. Bob resides in Austin, Texas.